Bank of America Initiates Coverage on Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE)

Stock analysts at Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE – Get Rating) in a research report issued on Friday, The Fly reports. The firm set a “buy” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of Green Plains from $44.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of Green Plains from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $40.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Green Plains presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.17.

Green Plains Stock Up 5.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ GPRE opened at $31.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.16 and a beta of 1.73. Green Plains has a 52-week low of $26.33 and a 52-week high of $41.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.22.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by ($0.83). The firm had revenue of $832.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $823.35 million. Green Plains had a negative return on equity of 14.94% and a negative net margin of 3.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.16) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Green Plains will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Green Plains

In other news, CEO Todd A. Becker sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total value of $1,050,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 751,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,566,529.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director James D. Anderson purchased 2,000 shares of Green Plains stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $31.10 per share, for a total transaction of $62,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 111,909 shares in the company, valued at $3,480,369.90. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Todd A. Becker sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $1,050,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 751,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,566,529.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Green Plains

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Green Plains by 446.7% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 371,443 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,511,000 after buying an additional 303,500 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its position in Green Plains by 4.9% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 69,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,157,000 after purchasing an additional 3,256 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Green Plains by 1.1% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,104,453 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $313,137,000 after purchasing an additional 114,412 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC boosted its position in Green Plains by 137.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 290,436 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,001,000 after purchasing an additional 167,885 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Green Plains by 21.0% during the first quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,507,731 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $139,695,000 after purchasing an additional 781,384 shares during the period.

Green Plains Company Profile

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Green Plains, Inc engages in the production of fuel-grade ethanol and corn oil, the provision of grain handling, and storage commodity marketing and distribution services. It operates through the following segments: Ethanol Production, Agribusiness and Energy Services, and Partnership. The Ethanol Production segment produces ethanol, distillers’ grain, and corn oil at ethanol plants in Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Texas.